Teacup and Bullets

 

 The shot went spaz, ricocheting around the room and eventually shattering the plastic skeleton in the corner. There were screams but they were muted by the sound of the gun.

 

I knew I couldn’t waste any time. If I waited I would die. Simple math, simple answers. So without hesitation I got up on creaky knees and put my palm flat on the glass door. It swung open and I raced outside into the corridor.

 

As the door swung shut I could hear the sounds of panic, typical teenage commotion. Then I heard a blood curdling yell and a blood stopping shot. Then there was silence. I stopped running, hesitation the step before procrastination.

 

I shouldn’t go back. I couldn’t go back. I had to keep going.

 

Oh shit, I couldn’t keep going.

 

Cursing, I jogged back and peeked through the window. I couldn’t see through. There was too much blood. Oh, God.  

 

I ran away from the classroom of DEATH, my head spinning and my footsteps echoing loudly in my ears.  Two dead. In one freaking day. In one freaking morning. Normalcy was something in the past; this school had turned into a battle ground.

 

Yay, no science test.

 

I kept running, adrenaline like my crack. I knew I had to keep running, whatever happened. The corridor was silent, which was weird. I thought there would be blood and tears and shots everywhere but there wasn’t.

 

Just silence.

 

I would have kept running randomly around the school until I got help or killed. Except at that moment something solid slammed into me and all my breath blew out of my body. I caught a glimpse of strawberry blond hair and blue eyes. Rosalie Summers. She was sobbing and screaming into my chest. Arg, what do you do when a girls crying?

 

I kept my hands on her back to steady her, the best thing I could think of. I didn’t really know Rosalie. She was one of those people in class who stay quiet and keep themselves to themselves. I would have said she was boring if not for the glimpses of craziness you got from her once and a while.

 

Like once I walked past her lunch table and they were singing Sweet Transvestite from Rocky Horror. With actions. Ever since then I had always looked her differently, I gave her some attention.

 

And now she was giving me some attention, sobbing into my chest like a drug attic without any crack.

 

“Shit, Rosalie! What the freaking hell is your problem?” I heard her breath hitch in her throat and the pressure from my chest lifted. She looked up at me with sky blue eyes, red from crying.

 

“Oh, um, hi.” She said lamely. Her voice trembled from the aftermath of tears.   “I didn’t know it was-”

 

“Didn’t know it was me? Yeah, I got that.” Damn that made me sound like a jackass but I had no idea what the hell I was doing so I turned to sarcasm for the answer.

 

I caught her gaze. Her face was sweaty but blood free which was a relief. My stomach did that thing when it feels like it’s going to drop out of your ass. I was so relieved that someone else was alive and running.

 

It made it better when it wasn’t just me.

 

 “I am so glad you’re alive.” The words we riding on a breath, a soft sound of relief. I hugged her as tightly as I could and I felt her hands wrap around my waist, hugging me back. When you’ve been through hell you would hug anyone.

 

“Me too.” She breathed. I could feel her heartbeat beating a frantic tattoo against her chest, “Me too.”

 

The air was intense and it felt as if we were both sketched in bold lines and jagged edges. I rubbed her back, trying to give her hope and warmth.

 

You can never guess how you’re going to react in times like this. When as good as strangers become your only life line and you school becomes war. It’s something that stretches the limits of your imagination. Sure, you know you’ll feel fear and stuff like that, but to be there, in the moment, is something else. It feels like your whole world is breaking a part.

 

So I held on. I held on to the only steady thing. Rosalie. And she held on back. It was a small comfort but a comfort all the same.

 

A minute had passed when our heartbeats finally slowed and we pulled a part. Her gaze dropped to the ground and her hands were entwined. I gave her a smile. I was about to say something sarcastics and let’s face it, probably really funny when something collided into Rosalie and I.

 

Ah, shit. Not again.